


As Parents Do

by infinitelyalz



Series: As Parents Must verse [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Good Parents Sabine Cheng & Tom Dupain, Tom & Sabine dish out some parenting, calling out liars like the bosses they are, this fic stands alone - don't need to read the first in the series to enjoy this one, vague s3e1 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-30
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-02 12:01:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16786561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infinitelyalz/pseuds/infinitelyalz
Summary: Tom and Sabine have two more visitors to their bakery who are in need of a good parental lesson.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Since you all asked for it! This (most likely final) part of the series will have two chapters. This stands on its own, so it's not necessary to read As Parents Must to enjoy this one.

It's a late Friday afternoon shortly before closing. The setting sun casts golden light into the Dupain-Cheng Bakery, making the store a picturesque scene of Parisian patisserie. 

Tom and Sabine are busy in the back of the bakery finishing up a large order for the Mayor’s highly-publicized charity banquet taking place tomorrow. This means Marinette is left to help her parents and watch the front.

A certain classmate is well aware of this fact.

It’s quiet this time of day. Marinette leans her elbows against the counter reading a fashion magazine, occasionally stopping her mindless flipping through the pages to note a piece for later reference or draw an inspired sketch in her notebook.

The bell chimes, signaling a new customer, and Marinette looks up with a friendly, charming smile, moving her items aside to provide her best customer service.

“Hi! Welcome to-”

The smile freezes on her face when she sees who has just entered.

Lila is hanging off Adrien's arm, loudly regaling him with a story about how she single-handedly rescued a family of penguins while touring the North Pole.

_ Oh, no. _

* * *

In the back Sabine, hearing the bell at this hour, leaves Tom for a moment and pokes her head around to check who is entering.

She thanks the heavens she did as she sees the scene before her.

Lila is smirking at the frozen Marinette and doesn’t even acknowledge her classmate. She keeps talking and talking, not pausing to let Adrien mutter even a greeting to Marinette.

“-and that’s how I came to Belgium and had  _ the _ best chocolate pastries you could even imagine. But so many people have had such nice things to say about this...quaint place, and it’s a local business, so of course we had to try something. Especially since it’s run by  _ dear Marinette’s  _ family.” Lila smiled, nothing sweet about it, and finally acknowledges the girl.

“Hey, Marinette,” Adrien says with an embarrassed smile and rubs the back of his neck with his free hand.

“H-hi…” Marinette stutters out, quickly flushing at the sight of her two classmates approaching her.

Sabine quietly witnesses the exchange from her place hidden in the back, clenching a rolling pin in her hands so hard her knuckles turn white. Tom, having noticed her lingering absence, has come to stand behind her, his normally jovial face hard as a stone.

Lila giggles, leaning in closer to Adrien before she starts to peruse the display with a faux pout on her face.

Tom and Sabine share a look.

This will not stand.

“Adrien, dear, how nice of you to drop by! And I see you’ve brought a friend!” Sabine steps out from the back, Tom following close behind.

“Hello, my boy!” Tom greets with a wave. “Marinette, can you head in back and start boxing the mini chocolate cakes? And get the nice ribbon from upstairs! Your beautiful decorations always put my attempts to shame!”

Tom and Sabine smile gently and reassuringly at their daughter.

“O-oh, of course, Papa!” And Marinette scurries out with a sigh of relief from all three Dupain-Chengs.

With Marinette safely away and out of earshot, Tom and Sabine turn to the remaining teenagers with wolfish smiles, their eyes narrowed in readiness for this next act.

“So Adrien, who is your lovely companion?” Sabine inquires, already having a feeling about the answer.

Lila grins victoriously at the description, the compliment sweeter coming from  _ Marinette’s  _ parents.

“This is Lila, one of Marinette’s and my classmates. I was helping Lila catch up on the schoolwork she missed and Lila wanted a snack,” Adrien answers sheepishly.

Tom and Sabine’s smiles widen. Perfect.

As the parents of Marinette, Tom and Sabine are experts in teenage awkwardness. They know it when they see it, and right now they could see Adrien’s from a mile away. Adrien is clearly uncomfortable with the girl hanging off his arm spouting factually inaccurate tales of her greatness. It's written in the tension in his shoulders, the way he leans away any time she leans closer.

In most cases, they'd feel sorry for the boy and step in to make him comfortable.

This was not most cases.

“So, dear, how long have you been a classmate of our Marinette’s?” Sabine questioned with a smile, moving around the display case to stand closer to the two teens, Tom casually leaning on the counter with one arm, his free hand in his pocket.

Lila smiles pleasantly, ready for the opening to impart more of her heroic tales.

“Well I originally started several months ago but almost immediately I had to go traveling. It was so sad to leave all my new friends behind, and I missed them so much, especially you Adrien” here she squeezed his arm and he winced. “But I’ve been back for almost a month now!”

A nearly silent ding to Lila’s left has her turning toward the noise. Tom pulls out his phone and turns the ringer to silent.

“Sorry about that. Although I thought you had trouble hearing, dear, I'm surprised you could hear it,” Sabine stares her straight in the eyes, but Lila doesn’t even flinch. She’s too good at this game.

“Oh, yes, of course I do! But it's gotten much better in the last few weeks. Doctor Renauld, a world-class physician, has been treating me. And sitting in the front of the classroom and having Adrien by my side has been so helpful. I'm still not up to 100%, but that's to be expected.”

“May I ask how it happened?” Tom interjects before she can continue embellishing her story.

“I was saving Jagged Stone's kitten on a runway and the noise of the jet caused it,” she answered with a faux-modest expression.

Adrien visibly stills, aching to get away. Tom and Sabine see his continuing discomfort with his companion.

“I thought Jagged Stone had a crocodile? Didn’t we meet that croc, Fang, one time?” Tom looks to Sabine, both fighting to hide their glee as Lila does exactly as expected.

“This was before he found out he was allergic. Then he got Fang, of course.” Lila simpered.

Tom moves from his place at the counter to stand by Sabine, casually throwing an arm around her. He’d heard of what this girl was capable of, but seeing it is incredible. His sweet Marinette, hurt by this girl’s lies. But he knows where Sabine is going with this and stands by her in support for what is coming. 

Sabine starts to cast her line. “In the special he filmed at our house, when Tom was teaching him how to bake, I believe Jagged Stone said he's been allergic to cats since childhood so that's very interesting that he had one.”

Lila’s expression barely shifts, a subtle challenge coming into her eyes as she’s forced to go further into her lie.

Hook.

“He thought it was one of those hypoallergenic kittens but it turns out it wasn’t.” Lila answered steadily.

Sabine stands straighter, expression never wavering. “Oh, I grew up with two cats and just adore them. What did the kitten look like?” 

Line.

"It was white,” Lila then grins in near victory, “here I have a picture of me holding the kitten after the rescue." She reaches into her bag and holds up her phone, smugly showing off her screensaver. It’s a picture of her holding a kitten with Jagged Stone just visible in the background. Marinette’s parents  _ ooh _ and  _ aah _ for effect, Sabine leaning closer to the screen to see it’s a near perfect photoshop job. Near perfect because Sabine can see the tiniest portion of Jagged’s arm is misshapen where the background nearly matches his jacket. If you weren’t looking for faults or didn’t have an eye for details, you’d never notice. 

Adrien at this point just wants to slink away unnoticed like the cat he sometimes is.

“That's a great picture. I do have a question though - back when Jagged Stone was here he told us a story of how he had a bad incident with a cat as a child and from then on was terrified of them. He said he’d never get a cat.”

Lila's victorious smile freezes.

“Oh...well you must have heard him wrong or he didn’t finish his story because he got Fluffy to try to overcome that fear.” Lila lies on the fly, barely taking a moment to come up with this new addition to her story.

“Really? How surprising because he was very adamant on his feelings about cats. Do you want to watch the video? Or I can go upstairs and have Marinette call him and ask about the Fluffy story? Marinette’s done some design work for Jagged and she has both his number and his personal assistant's. I don’t want to be telling falsities, dear, even if it was unintentional.”

Sinker.

“I…” Lila starts to finally get flustered, face reddening and nails digging into Adrien’s arm.

Tom presses play on the unreleased video.

“Oh, whoops, silly me with these big hands.”

The video shows Tom, Sabine, and Jagged chatting to the side while the camera crew resets for the next shot. Jagged’s voice can be heard through the smartphone’s speakers.

_ “Oy, vicious creature I’m telling ya! That little kitty near bit and clawed my hand off. Been scared of them ever since, never had and never will have one for a pet. It’s too traumatic a memory. That’s why I got my Fang here, he’s a sweet boy. Had him for years now, my first and only pet.” _

“Penny, Jagged Stone’s assistant, took that video and emailed it over to us. It was very nice of her.”

With Lila frozen, Adrien is finally able to wrench himself from her vice-like grip on his arm. He winces, rubbing the numbed limb to return some blood flow.

“If that’s true, Lila, then how did you get tinnitus? Or did you even have it in the first place?”

With Adrien looking at her disapprovingly, Lila finally unfreezes and realizes she’s caught. Then promptly _ loses it _ .

“What is  _ wrong _ with you people?! Little Miss Fact Checker’s obnoxiousness obviously runs in the family! Why is every ruining my life? I deserve better than this!” Lila is huffing and puffing after her tirade, hands clenched at her sides and whole body shaking. “And you!” She turns to glare at Adrien, slowly advancing on him as he starts to back away. “You’re supposed to be fawning at my feet and falling in love with me! But no matter what I say or the stories I tell you still barely even notice me! Why are you so impossible?!”

As Lila unleashes on Adrien, Tom turns to look to Sabine. They make eye contact, and Tom nods once. 

Sabine turns back to the girl, looking her straight in the eye. “What you deserve, Lila, is a good punishment! You should be ashamed of yourself for your lies but you’re apparently incapable of shame. I question how you were raised if you think this is appropriate behavior. You’re acting more like a temperamental toddler than a young lady!”

Lila lets out a wild scream of rage, her anger so hot that the pin Hawkmoth wears to detect potential Akuma victims actually _ burns  _ him. She stomps out the bakery, the door slamming behind her.

The bakery is silent.

Adrien shuffles his feet, Tom and Sabine turning from the door to look at him.

“W-well, I’d better-”

“You stay right there, Adrien. We still need to talk with you.” Tom moves from behind the counter, coming to stand next to Sabine with his large arms crossed over his chest.

Adrien gulps. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Adrien's turn to sit down with Tom and Sabine for a little chat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp this is it! The end of my ML Salt fic verse. It's been a wild ride, guys. Thanks so much to everyone here and on tumblr for all the love!

"Adrien, dear, why don't you come with us for a moment," Sabine gestured to a door adjacent to the counter which must have been the bakery’s office.

Adrien considered bolting with an excuse about his father expecting him, but before he could even move Tom reached past him to flip the sign at the entrance to “Closed” and locked the door with an audible click. That sound would echo in Adrien’s mind for weeks to come.

Tom and Sabine both stared at the boy, and with a barely repressed shiver Adrien started to move towards the office.

This was not going to be good. And he had no one to blame but himself.

* * *

Tom flicked on the light to the small office, taking his seat behind the large desk that took up most of the room. Sabine sat down in the chair next to him, and in perfect sync they folded their hands in front of them. The desk had been a wedding present from Sabine’s father, a finely crafted, sturdy oak desk designed to seat two working side by side. It was the physical representation of their marriage, a stable structure of unity that has withstood the test of time. Tom and Sabine worked as true partners at this desk, managing their life’s work with diligence and honesty, never cutting corners and never compromising their character.

Adrien sat down in the chair opposite, looking small.

“You know what we want to talk to you about, don’t you, son?” Tom started, Sabine reaching for his hand in a continued show of solidarity.

Adrien nodded, his expression earnest if still a little flustered. “Yes, sir. I think I do.” He didn’t try to give any excuses, any justifications for what had been going on over the last few weeks. Before Tom and Sabine could start their planned speech, Adrien continued, leaning forward and looking them each in the eyes as he spoke. “I should have done something for Marinette. It wasn’t right for everyone to ignore her like that, and it wasn’t right for me to just passively sit by hoping the others would realize it was wrong. I’m sorry, and if you’ll let me go speak to Marinette I’d like to apologize to her as well.”

Tom and Sabine appreciated his honesty, and were proud to see that he had come to some important conclusions on his own. But there were still some vital lessons he needed to learn before they let him speak to their daughter. Both for her sake and his own.

“Thank you, Adrien. We’re so happy to hear you’ve figured that out on your own. And we’ll let you up to speak to Marinette in a moment. But there’s a few other things we’d like to discuss with you first.” 

Adrien nodded and sat back in his chair, still looking uncomfortable but a tad less burdened with that initial apology off his chest.

Sabine leaned forward against the desk. "You're a kind young man, Adrien. It's noble to be forgiving and to give people second chances. But you have to understand that there's a balance."

Adrien’s brow furrowed, apparently confused as to where this was going. Sabine turned to look at Tom. Over the last several days they’d had several conversations about Marinette’s situation with her various classmates. The most difficult had been in regards to Adrien. Because though Alya’s actions had probably hurt Marinette the worst, her home situation was vastly improved compared to Adrien’s. She had a good foundation, good morals from parental guidance that had formed a solid character. She had misstepped, and once she realized that error, fell back on that foundation to start making amends. No, Alya was easy compared to Adrien.

Adrien’s upbringing was nowhere near how Tom and Sabine had raised their daughter. It was completely unfamiliar to anything they had ever witnessed, let alone experienced. From birth a member of a famed, privileged family, this was the first hurdle. Trying to understand the demands of being in the spotlight, not only as the son of a locally famous actress and internationally renowned fashion designer, but as a model and the face of a brand. Just this was enough, but to tack on what else they’d gleaned of his background had been much more difficult.

For the most part locked away from his peers, sheltered to the most extreme degree, Adrien never had the opportunity to learn the most basic interpersonal skills. With the exception of Chloe, until recently he was only surrounded by demanding adults, leaving him both too mature and vastly naïve at this age to form a unique dichotomy of behavior. 

They don't know much about his mother other than the devastation in her loss, it seems no one does from their gentle gathering of information, but she was obviously beloved. And they've witnessed several of his interactions with his father, or more telling, his father's paid employees, to grasp the state of that parental relationship (in Tom’s opinion it was a stretch to even call it parental, so far removed from his own fatherly care). 

In summary, the boy had turned out far gentler, far kinder, far  _ better _ than anyone could have expected in those circumstances. It stood as a testament to a core nature of goodness inside him. But just because he had turned out well given his circumstances doesn’t mean he’s exempt from facing consequences for his actions. Their understanding of his upbringing has helped them to form their approach in this moment.

“There’s something we want to say first,” Tom started, his eyes locking onto Adrien’s and holding his gaze with a barely repressed fatherly fury on the boy’s behalf. “You can say no, you can say you’ve had enough. If someone is bothering you, if it’s them not respecting your personal space, if they are saying or doing things that make you uncomfortable, you can speak up. You don’t have to just grin and bear it.”

This was a lesson that he and Sabine had been sure to teach Marinette and reinforce over the years. The fact that this boy had not been taught this lesson angered Tom to his core, leaving him disgusted with the boy’s father. Gabriel may be a great man in many respects, but he was lacking as a father to this boy.

Adrien was visibly stunned at the direction this conversation had taken, expecting more rebuke for what Marinette had endured recently. Sabine then started to speak, drawing Adrien’s attention to her.

"Sometimes people hurt you, intentionally or not, and continue to hurt you. It's okay to say it's not okay. It’s okay to walk away from people like that. And it’s okay to accept someone’s apology but decide not to accept that person back into your life." Sabine was referencing far too many people in Adrien’s life that he continued to allow into it, even enabling them. She continued, going in for the kill.

“And if you see that happening to someone else, don’t be afraid to speak up, even if it’s uncomfortable. I know you wouldn’t stand by and let someone physically hurt a classmate - don’t stand by and let them emotionally hurt them. There’s a saying popular in America you may have heard that goes ‘sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.’ That’s wrong. Words do hurt. And the hurt can last a long, long time.”

And there it was, Sabine drawing the speech full circle to the impetus of this conversation.

Adrien was visibly ashamed, looking down at his shoes as he took in these words. The last bit was tough to swallow for a boy who lived his life as almost a spectator to it. For the most part, he allowed others to do as they pleased, never calling them out for their actions. He allowed others to dictate his every move, rarely rebelling against his strict schedules and the many expectations placed upon him my multiple people. He didn’t know how to say no to demanding figures, didn’t even know that “no” was an option.

He started to learn today that Hawkmoth and criminals weren’t the only people capable of cruelty and hurt. It wasn’t right for Lila, a person he knew had lied before, to isolate such a kind person as Marinette because she called her out on it. He saw Lila’s pattern of behavior but continued to give her more chances, never stepping in, which he now firmly realized was wrong. And he was also starting to realize that he didn’t have to put up with her behavior. Her constant touches made him uncomfortable, and he was not obligated in any way to use what little spare time he had to help her. He ultimately concluded that just as Marinette was an everyday Ladybug in the way she helped her classmates, he too needed to be an everyday Chat Noir and stop the smaller injustices he witnessed.

Tom and Sabine patiently waited as Adrien took everything in, warm smiles at the ready for when he finally looked up at them. He was too overcome for words initially, taking in their compassionate looks and nodding in understanding at them. They continued to wait for him to pull himself together.

“If...if it’s alright, may I go speak to Marinette now? I’d still like that chance to apologize before I have to head home,” he said with a small smile on his face. It had obviously been difficult for him to hear these things, but Tom and Sabine were happy to see that he didn’t react to the lesson with rage like Lila or shamed fleeing like the other classmates. No, he took it in stride and wanted to start making amends immediately despite his current state of emotional turmoil.

“Of course. Go on up. I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you,” Tom grinned.

Adrien stood, offering up a quick smile and wave as he headed for the door.

“And Adrien,” Sabine called, Adrien looking over his shoulder with fingers on the door handle, “don’t be a stranger, dear. Remember you’re always welcome here.”

Adrien’s smile grew wider, nodding once before leaving the room.

With him gone, Tom and Sabine both sat back in their seats with a sigh, tired but relieved. Mission accomplished.


End file.
